1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to combustion enhancement devices and methods, specifically to combustion enhancement devices for internal combustion engines.
2. Description of the Related Art
In internal combustion engines, air is mixed with fuel and then ignited in a combustion chamber. The resultant gas includes diverse pollutants such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides. Incomplete combustion is linked to pollutants in the resultant gas, both as a cause and a symptom. Incomplete combustion also decreases the efficiency and power of the internal combustion engine.
Typically, air fed into internal combustion engines is not in a state to facilitate ideal combustion. Ideally, air to be used in an internal combustion engine would have a balance of positive and negative ions. However, the air generally fed into internal combustion engines will have an overabundance of positive ions which interfere during the combustion process and cause incomplete combustion.
Negative ions may be added to air by exposing the air to alpha and/or beta particles. However, the negative ions do not continue to exist for very long, so the air must be mixed with fuel and combusted fairly quickly after being exposed to the alpha and/or beta particles. Therefore the source of the alpha and/or beta particles must be sufficiently close to the point of mixture of the fuel and the air. Further the air must be sufficiently exposed to the source of the alpha and/or beta particles.
One natural source of alpha and/or beta particles is natural ore containing rare earth metals. This ore may be ground into particles or a powder and affixed to surfaces. The surfaces may then be adapted for and affixed to or adjacent to internal combustion engines. These surfaces, attached to the internal combustion engine, are combustion enhancement devices. Negative ions may then be added to air by the combustion enhancement devices.
“Activating the air” by adding negative ions requires exposure to the source of alpha and/or beta particles. Because of the special demands of internal combustion engines, the nature of the air, and the short life of the negative ions, appropriate exposure of the alpha and/or beta particles becomes difficult. Several, sometimes conflicting, requirements are presented.
Since the negative ions only exist for a short time, the particle source needs to be close, in time, to the moment of the mixing of the fuel and air. Typically this means it must be a part of the air intake system of the internal combustion engine. Therefore a combustion enhancement device must have some way to couple to or be installed within the air intake system of a combustion enhancement device. This presents some difficulty as different internal combustion devices have differently configured air intake systems. Therefore one combustion enhancement device may work well for one engine type, but may be difficult or impossible to install on another.
Additionally, to activate the air, there must be sufficient exposure of the air to the particle source. However, a typical internal combustion engine requires a high air flow. This requirement adds difficulty where the combustion enhancement device is required to expose a significant portion of the air to the alpha and/or beta particles while at the same time not significantly restricting the air flow required by the internal combustion engine.
More, the demands of the marketplace require that all these conflicting requirements be satisfied in an inexpensive device which is easily installed on a variety of internal combustion engines.
What is needed is a combustion enhancement device to enhance the purity, power and performance of an internal combustion engine while satisfying one or more of the above requirements.
Incorporated by reference herein is Japanese utility model U3082307 “Combustion Improvement through Effective Equipment” to Seiichi Sengoku.